


In Your Hands

by tangerine (arte)



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Animal Transformation, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 19:39:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5510507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arte/pseuds/tangerine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world was crazy and Will had long ran out of fucks to give. After getting his hand grabbed by a literal mushroom man, seeing a living human sewn inside a dead horse, and hallucinating a heart made out of a twisted body untwisting itself to become a stag, watching Hannibal turning into an actual cat before his very eyes seemed more like a natural progression than anything else. </p><p>Or, in which Hannibal turns into a cat but isn't really that different from his usual self.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Your Hands

**Author's Note:**

> http://damnslippyplanet.tumblr.com/post/135743520431/norgbelulah-damnslippyplanet
> 
> I blame everything on this post. There's a slight Supernatural crossover element in the beginning, but you don't have to have knowledge about the show. It's just there to provide a fodder for this crazy Hannibal turning into a cat idea.

The world was crazy and Will had long ran out of fucks to give. After getting his hand grabbed by a literal mushroom man, seeing a living human sewn inside a dead horse, and hallucinating a heart made out of a twisted body untwisting itself to become a stag, watching Hannibal turning into an actual cat before his very eyes seemed more like a natural progression than anything else. 

"Christo! Fuck! I'm so sorry. I panicked," said the woman who had thrown sparkles at Hannibal. "I thought he was a demon and I tried to throw salt but I think I made a mistake?" 

Will's curiosity was piqued. "Why did you think he was a demon?"

"What?" the woman- Jenna said, hairs wild and eyes incredulous. "Of all things, that's what you want to know?"

"Is this permanent?" Will asked as he walked toward the bundle of clothes and the cat laying on it, its fur the same color as Hannibal's hair. The cat was unconscious.

"Well, no."

"Then don't you think it'd be important to know how to prevent future misunderstanding?" Will bullshitted.

"Well I- I guess," she said, distressed and uncertain. "It was just- his eyes looked black, like- with no whites."

"And demons have black eyes," Will prompted encouragingly. He hoped that there was more to it. Or maybe not. Hannibal would be so disappointed if people mistook him for a demon not because of there was something inhuman about him but because of a trick of light. That'd smart his ego.

"Yeah," she paused. "Aren't you a hunter?" 

From the way she said it, _hunters_ were supposed to know about demons. 

"We're new to this," Will shrugged. "I didn't think demons were real."

"Oh, they're real, believe me," Jenna said, relaxing a notch. "Then how did you become a hunter if you didn't meet demons? Vampires? Ghosts?"

"Ghosts," Will said, thinking of Garret Jacob Hobbs. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Jenna winced. "Sorry. I can't shut up when I'm nervous." 

"That's okay. You were talking about demons?"

"Oh, right. Well, I could always do magic but I always hid it you know? Hogwart doesn't exist in real life. I was a freak. Then I met this girl who could do magic like me and I was so thrilled," her lips twisted into a bitter smile. "Turns out other witches did their magic through demons and sacrifices. Hunters were involved. It was all so messy."

"You didn't know that your friend was walking such a dark path," Will said slowly, trying not to feel like his past self was judging him.

"Yeah, it was just- the world didn't make sense. I was feeling paranoid ever since. Sorry. I should've known I was in no state to meet new people."

"You were trying to sell your house and give yourself a new start," Will said gently. "I could hardly fault you for trying to give us a tour before you sold it."

"Thanks," Jenna said, giving him a watery smile. She sniffled. "Um, I know it's probably gonna break the mood, but are you still gonna buy the house?"

They were buying the house. Well, Will was with Hannibal's money. If Hannibal had any objection, he shouldn't have become a cat and fallen unconscious.

While Will signed the necessary papers, Jenna told him what to expect about Hannibal the cat. She said Hannibal would remain as a cat for a week and return to normal after that. Probably won't have any human memory, but the general impression would linger with him (Will had a hard time not laughing when Jenna said, "He won't try to hurt you since you're his friend).

"I don't know what'd be safe for you to feed him," Jenna confessed. "Do people react badly to cat food? Sorry, but I didn't mean to use this spell on human."

"Then what was it intended for?"

"Vampires," Jenna said. At Will's inquiring look she added, "You have to behead them to kill them. I thought it'd be easier to do that if I turned them into small animals. In retrospect, I should've looked for spells that would turn them into bugs or something. Cats are too cute to be beheaded."

Will laughed. He was totally telling Hannibal that he escaped being literally squashed like a bug by the skin of teeth. 

"I'm very grateful for your mistake, Jenna."

\- 

Will decided to extend their stay in the hotel for one more week. They had a house now, but he thought that the cat would appreciate a place that smelled more like himself, not an empty house stripped of all furniture. Fortunately, the hotel was pet friendly. 

Unfortunately, Will had to drive for thirty minutes to get there. 

For the lack of better place to settle Hannibal, Will put the unconscious cat on the passenger seat. He was getting worried that Hannibal wouldn't wake up, but at least this gave him time to quickly google search 'how to approach a stray cat'.

He didn't know much about cats, but he knew enough that trying to treat cats like dogs was a bad idea. Different body language and all that. He had no desire to be trapped in the car with an irritated Hannibal with a claw.

"Okay, step one- make yourself look smaller," Will muttered to himself. Did sitting down count as looking smaller? It'd have to do.

Step two was, ironically enough, not prolonging eye contact. For cats, closing one's eyes were sign of trust. 

"Blink slowly. If they don't blink back, back off. Turn your head away," Will read out loud, coming to a disturbing realization that this sounded like the method Hannibal had used on him at the start of their therapy: Building trusts by giving him space.

Hannibal had never once forced eye contact like Jack had done. He had used his words to draw Will to him, to make Will want to _see_ more. But when the moment passed, the man would flick his gaze elsewhere, somehow still looking graceful for that whereas Will would look like a social failure.

Shaking his head, Will moved on to the next steps. Step three through five was on how to approach a cat with a treat, which wasn't really applicable since there was nothing to eat and nowhere to walk. Keeping one's voice soft was useful, though, he could do that.

Finished with reading the basic instruction, Will turned to check on Hannibal and had to slam down hard on his desire to shout _Shit!!_

Hannibal was awake and staring at him with maroon eyes, slitted pupils focused on him.

Will tried to will his heart to slow down. It sounded so loud. How good was cat's hearing anyway? Will belatedly realized that staring wasn't really a good sign in cat's world and forced himself to blink slowly. 

Hannibal stared a bit longer, then blinked, slow and measured but with a hint of amusement. It was just so like the usual Hannibal that Will couldn't help but whisper, "Hannibal? Do you know what happened?"

Hannibal's ears twitched, but he didn't show any other reaction. Hesitantly, Will offered his hand so that Hannibal could come and smell him if he wanted to. 

Hannibal tilted his head. He stood up and approached him, all feline grace and curiosity. He opened his mouth a bit and breathed in, eyes squinted thoughtfully. Will felt oddly nervous as he waited for Hannibal's judgement.

The judgement came in the form of purring noise. Will felt soft furs being pushed into his hand, demanding. Trained from years of petting dogs, Will automatically slid his hand from head to neck, feeling the purr getting louder.

"You recognize me, huh?" Will said, his heart squeezing. Hannibal kept letting out content noise. Will couldn't stop patting. The cat sidled up closer and closer to Will until he ended up in Will's lap. 

Will froze, because cat or not, this was Hannibal. Hannibal, who had been so careful with his touches ever since the cliff, always waiting for Will to make the first move. 

_Hannibal would be mortified if he remembers this,_ Will thought, and amazingly enough he could picture this. He'd seen Hannibal's version of shy: averted eyes, fidgety hands disguised as bringing things around him in order. Will should like the idea of knocking Hannibal down a peg or two, but instead he felt oddly protective of him.

With a sigh, Will let Hannibal curl himself into a ball on his lap. It felt warm and Hannibal was a fucking cat. What else could Will do?

Will started the car, one hand on the wheel, the other on the cat. Absently carding his hands through Hannibal's furs, Will drove to the hotel. 

-

Three days in with Hannibal the cat, Will came to an enlightening conclusion.

"You've always been an actual cat disguised as a human, weren't you?" Will asked, staring down at the dead bird on his table. 

_What do I do with the dead thing my cat brought me_ , Will had typed in google earlier on just to see his complaint reflected back to him, and inadvertently stumbled upon the answer to his cat's behavior. Roughly translated, the gesture meant, _I like you, but you're a woeful hunter. So I'll take care of you and show you how hunting is done. We can kill together later on._

What even. 

Will looked back on all of his history with Hannibal, to that frankly delighted look on the man's face when Will had dragged Randall Tier to his house. 

The cat was looking up at him with expectant yet somewhat hesitant expression.

 _Don't scold your cat for bringing you dead animals,_ the website had advised. _They're only doing what evolution had equipped them to do. They wanted nothing more than to give you a gift._

If there hadn't been dozens of website sprouting the same sentiment, Will would have suspected that Bedelia was behind that sage advice, drinking wine by the barrels. 

"Yes, you're wonderful and you know it," Will caved at last, bending down to scratch behind Hannibal's ears. The cat melted into his hand, purring. Will was coming to love that sound. 

After putting the dead bird into the tupperware and into the fridge - Will knew that Hannibal would judge him hard if he just threw it in the trash can - Will decided to spend that evening searching about cat's behavior, curious to see how much of Hannibal's usual behavior fell into the category of The Things Cats Do.

"I think you're giving bad reputation to cats," Will said, lifting Hannibal to his eye level after almost getting tripped by him. "Weren't cats supposed to be aloof? You're being positively clingy, Dr. Lecter." 

And it was true. Hannibal never left Will alone. Always rubbing against him or circling around him, meowing to get attention if it wasn't given fast enough. Even a short trip to the kitchen to get coffee was a health hazard because Hannibal kept looping around Will's ankle.

Hannibal booped him on the nose as if to placate him. The pad of his feet felt wonderfully soft.

"You and your charm," Will sighed then moved to the couch, carrying Hannibal in one arm and coffee mug in another.

As he settled on the couch, Hannibal immediately climbed upto his lap. A bit miffed at this show of entitlement, Will inclined his tablet against Hannibal's back, expecting him to squirm away. Instead, Hannibal gave him an incredibly martyred look for a cat, then shifted to become a perfect tablet stand. 

"Uh, thanks?" Will said, and patted the cat's head to show his appreciation. Hannibal squirmed, torn between his decision to stand still and his desire to burrow into Will's hand. 

Hannibal was one very conflicted cat and Will couldn't stop smiling.

"Stand still for me, yeah?"

Hannibal digged his paws painfully into his thighs, making Will yelp.

"No need to be nasty," Will said, grabbing the cat's leg to stop him. Hannibal gave him an weirdly wounded look but returned to his tablet stand stance. It was different, though. If Hannibal had appeared eager and happy before, now he was stiff and tense.

Not knowing how to rectify the situation, Will decided that he needed to learn more about cat's body language fast. Resting the tablet against Hannibal's back now felt very uncomfortable, but Will thought that it would come off as an insult to injury if he declined Hannibal's offer at this point.

Will's eyebrows steadily climbed up as he read information about cats: 

_Cats rubbing against you isn't merely a sign of affection. They're leaving their scent on you, declaring to other cats, "This human belongs to me. Back off." As many cat owners would come to realize, we aren't the masters in this relationship._

_Cats are master manipulators. Did you know that cats don't meow much to other cats? It seems like that sound is specifically caliberated to mimick the sound of human infant, to cultivate nurturing instinct in humans and make them pay attention to cats._

_Why does my cat always try to lick my hairs, you might ask, and the answer is simple: They're trying to groom you. In other words, they're saying, "God, I love you, but you're a mess. Let me clean you up so that you won't be an embarrassment. Honestly, you need to learn how to groom yourself."_

Will touched his hair, remembering how he woke up the last few days with Hannibal deligently licking every stand of his hair. At the time he thought it was just Hannibal being weird. Now he couldn't help but flash back to those times Hannibal had tried to convince him of the necessity and the virtue of insanely expensive bespoke suits.

"I know how to groom myself," Will said, his voice sounding lost to his ears. He noticed how slick Hannibal's furs were, meticulously groomed but inviting. Will raised his hand, hoovered it over the heat Hannibal was radiating. He pulled back before the moment of contact.

He about lost it when his eyes landed on the article titled, _Love Hurts_.

_It can be very confusing for the owners when the cats show their bellies and scratch you when you try to rub them, especially when you're accustomed to the dogs._

_This is because cats lie on their back both when they feel content and cornered. It could be the sign that they trust you, that they invite your touch. But lying back also puts cats in the prime position to claw their enemies. You always have to look carefully to determine their mood. Also, even if the cat had started out as content, they could start to feel cornered if they become oversensitive to the touch. You have to watch out so that you won't get scratched for your love._

_Kneading can also be the sign of affection that can be painful. Kittens knead their mother's breast for milk, and this behavior continues to their adulthood, linked to the feeling of affection and contentment. If your cats knead you on your lap, it means that they return your affection. However as they push harder the more content they feel, it could become quite painful to the human owners. Don't scold your cats, but try to find a way that would be comfortable for the both of you, like putting a cushion between your skin and their claws._

Will thought of Hannibal's tender hands, linoleum knife glinting, blades whirling. The hand cradling his skull, the warm body beating against his chest had always been more painful than any other wounds Hannibal had left on him, the kindness so tightly interwoven with violence making Will's head spin, impossible to distinguish the sky from sea. 

Hannibal didn't touch him since the night at the cliff, only clinical doctor's hands checking his progress. 

Hannibal had sank his claws into Will's lap, piercing through the thick jeans.

"You," Will breathed, no other words coming to his mind. He curled himself tightly around Hannibal, not caring if the tablet would clatter to the ground, not caring if he'd get scratched. It felt easy, coming home. 

Hannibal purred, nuzzling. All was forgiven.

-

Will woke up encircled in strong arms, the scent of smoke and myrrh and warmth filling his nose.

 _Ah_ , his brain said, finally catching up with the situation. _The week is up._

Hannibal and Will had slept in separate beds in the hotel, but Hannibal the cat had no such boundaries. After a few futile try to remove Hannibal from his bed, Will had given up, cuddling with the cat to sleep. It had helped him sleep better than he had in ages, so much so that he had forgotten that he should've let Hannibal sleep on his own bed the day the magic would end. 

_He's naked,_ his brain informed him, helpful as ever. Will smacked down whatever insinuations that could follow after that and tried to extract himself from Hannibal.

The grip on him only tightened. Will looked down and saw that Hannibal's eyes were half open. Languidly, using his grip on Will to balance himself, Hannibal pushed himself forward. 

The tongue was shockingly warm against his skin. Will froze. It should be disgusting, the wet slide of tongue. Instead, the sight of Hannibal licking his face, eyes probably half lidded, lit something in Will's belly. 

Pain swept in soon after, by now the expected guest. Hannibal's hand had went white knuckled against Will's shoulders, locking him into inhuman stillness. Hannibal had stopped breathing. His conscious mind had finally caught up. 

Will waited until the shaky breath fanned across his cheek, chilling. He slowly pushed Hannibal away until he could see that familiar human face again after the long week. Hannibal's eyes were stormy, barely stuttered against the wind.

"How much do you remember?" Will asked, voice soft. 

Hannibal closed his eyes, swallowed. "Enough to be ashamed of my behavior."

"You didn't have adequate armor."

"I wanted you to choose." 

Slowly, Will pried Hannibal's hand from his shoulder, watching it flex as if it wanted to cling. He gently settled it against his cheek, until the warmth made Hannibal open his eyes. 

Will looked him in the eyes, blinking slowly, one, two, three. 

Hannibal stared at him as if he was hypnotized. Will knew that now Hannibal wouldn't be able to look away. Satisfied with the attention, Will slowly guided down Hannibal's hand, past the rough scuffles and to his lips. 

Will could barely hear the sound of their breathing. Maybe no one was. Whatever was left of Will's breath was trapped against Hannibal's hand. Will opened his mouth.

He licked it back.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that was one fic bunny exorcised! Still, there were things that I wanted to include but couldn't make it work. To name a few:
> 
> -Hannibal the cat can use toilets. Will is amused and fed up that this is the one human skill that Hannibal remembers.
> 
> -They have to throw out series of frozen dead animals that Hannibal had hunted as a cat. Hannibal is kinda sad to see them go but is touched that Will had put enough thought to preserve them.
> 
> -Hannibal and Will researching supernatural creatures. Will had been very much conflicted about his dark instinct even though he came to terms with his love for Hannibal. They find being hunters to be an excellent outlet for this. Creatures are often faster and stronger than humans, which make the hunt exciting.
> 
> -Hannibal remembers how careful Will was in selecting Hannibal's food (so that it won't be dangerous to both cats and humans) and loves that. He makes all of Will's favorite dishes to thank him for that.
> 
> Well, that's it! I wish you a very fluffy christmas. Thanks for reading :)


End file.
